WGGB-TV
Encyclopedia
WGGB-TV is the ABC
-affiliated television station
for the Pioneer Valley
of Western Massachusetts
licensed to Springfield
. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter on Mount Tom
in Holyoke
. The station can also be seen on Charter
and Comcast
channel 4. There is a high definition feed offered on Charter digital channel 784 and Comcast digital channel 840. Locally-owned by Gormally Broadcasting, it has studios on Liberty Street in Springfield. Syndicated
programming on WGGB includes The Insider
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
, The Doctors
, and Family Feud
among others.
, Comcast channel 6, and Charter channel 10 is the area's primary Fox
and secondary MyNetworkTV
affiliate. Although it broadcasts over-the-air in standard definition, there is a high definition feed of WGGB-DT2 seen on Charter digital channel 786 and Comcast digital channel 861. Syndicated programming on this station includes How I Met Your Mother
, Family Guy
, The Simpsons
, and America's Funniest Home Videos
along with others.
when it commenced broadcasting as WHYN-TV on April 9, 1953. The station's launch was only a month behind rival NBC
affiliate WWLP
. It was co-owned with WHYN radio (AM 560 and FM 93.1
) and was a primary CBS
station with secondary DuMont
relation. During the late-1950s, it was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
. The station became an ABC affiliate in 1958 after DuMont folded in 1956 and WTIC-TV (now WFSB
) in Hartford, Connecticut
, previously an Independent, moved to CBS and became the network's affiliate of record in Springfield.
Originally airing an analog signal on UHF channel 55, WHYN moved to channel 40 in 1959. Guy Gannett Broadcasting bought the station in 1979 and changed the calls to WGGB-TV effective at the start of the following year. In 1994, its cameras rolled as Temple University
head basketball
coach John Chaney confronted University of Massachusetts
head coach
John Calipari
at a press conference. At one point, Chaney threatened Calipari with death
. The footage (watermarked with the station's logo and call letters) was picked up by ESPN
and has since been shown thousands of times. In 2006, Fox Sports Net
's The Best Damn Sports Show Period
ranked the incident the fifth-biggest outburst in sports history.
The Sinclair Broadcast Group
purchased most of Guy Gannett's television stations, including WGGB, in 1998. The station has wanted to move back to CBS on several occasions but was blocked each time by WFSB. CBS did not return over-the-air on a Springfield-based station until 2003 when WFSB started low-powered semi-satellite WSHM-LP (now WSHM-LD). On October 15, 2004, WGGB upgraded its over-the-air digital signal to offer ABC programming in high definition. On May 5, 2007, the station redesigned its website and added local news video.
In late-July 2007, Sinclair announced the sale of WGGB to Gormally Broadcasting, LLC for $
21.2 million. The sale closed on November 2 resulting in this station becoming the only one in the market to be locally owned-and-operated
. On December 1, 2008, it shut down its analog signal and became digital-exclusive. This appears to have occurred as early as November 29 due to transmitter failure. On June 12, 2009, the digital signal relocated to the previous analog channel location. Channel 55's spectrum was reassigned for use by Qualcomm
's MediaFLO
system. In addition to WGGB, Charter systems offer fellow ABC affiliate WCVB-TV
from Boston on channel 23. Comcast does not offer such access.
(a 24-hour digital music channel) to many of the company's stations including WGGB. As a result of lacking any advertising and incoming revenue source, The Tube shut down operations at the end of 2006. Meanwhile, the area did not have a Fox affiliate of its own was the largest market to be in that situation. WTIC-TV
in Hartford (no relation to the earlier Independent outlet with the same calls) served as the default affiliate on cable. At one point, new Class A station WFXQ-CA
had been rumored as attempting to affiliate with the network. That station is owned by LIN TV Corporation as part of a duopoly with WWLP.
On March 31, 2008, WGGB announced it would be launching the area's first locally-based Fox affiliate on its second digital subchannel. Almost immediately, WTIC had its cable channel location on Comcast systems taken by WGGB-DT2, and as a result, was moved to the digital tier on channel 292. Charter eventually followed suit as well placing WTIC on digital channel 261. When WGGB-DT2 signed-on for the second time, it also added MyNetworkTV as a secondary relation. Currently, programming from the Fox sister network is seen on weeknights from 11:30 until 1:30 the next morning. There is no local branding and/or logo indicating the secondary MyNetworkTV affiliation status.
. However, there have been brief times when WGGB was on top and extended periods in which the two were basically neck-and-neck with WWLP having a slight edge. Originally, its newscasts were known as NewsWatch 40. The station cut back financially under Sinclair ownership, and during that period, rumors of cancelling ABC 40 News or converting to the now-defunct, controversial News Central
format sometimes spread.
News Central was Sincliar's centralized operation based at its headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland
that added national news headlines, weather forecasts, ans sports highlights to most company-owned stations with local news operations. WGGB was among the few Sinclair outlets that did not adopt the format. The station did air Sinclair's "The Point", a one-minute conservative political commentary, also controversial and a requirement of all company stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006.
In October 2005, WSHM entered in to the local newscast competition after establishing a news department with weeknight broadcasts at 6 and 11. Initially, that station did not compete on the same level as WGGB and WWLP. However, its ratings grew substantially across the board during the May 2009 sweeps period to within decimal points of WGGB in several key demographics. In Fall 2006, WGGB rehired Ed Carroll to be Chief Meteorologist who had previously been at the station from 1989 until 1993 before moving to WBZ-TV
in Boston. Until April 2007, it did not carry World News Now
from ABC News
in the early weekday morning hours choosing instead to air programming from the Home Shopping Network
(HSN).
After becoming locally owned-and-operated, WGGB's news department underwent significant changes. Several prominent on-air personnel resigned or were laid-off. The station debuted a brand new set, graphics theme, and music package on April 24, 2008. In order to increase its presence in Springfield, WSHM launched the area's first prime time broadcast on August 18. The program aired in a commercial-free, face-paced format every night at 10 for twenty minutes on its cable-only 24-hour
local weather channel and website. It was eventually dropped for an unknown reason. On September 8, WGGB-DT2
followed suit with the addition of Fox 6 News at 10 featuring a separate graphics package and music theme. Eventually, this thirty minute production was expanded to weekends.
On April 6, 2009, WGGB's weekday morning show became a full two-hour broadcast like most other ABC affiliates. WGGB-DT2 simulcasts this program then replays it at 7 in the morning. The main station then added a half-hour to the newscast becoming Pioneer Valley's first station offering a weekday morning broadcast beginning at 4:30. WGGB-DT2 does not simulcast the first half-hour. It shares resources with WCVB, NECN, and WFXT
for news from Eastern Massachusetts. In return, WGGB does the same for western areas of the state. It does not operate a weather radar
of its own but uses live NOAA
National Weather Service
radar data originating from the Local Forecast Office on Miles Standish Boulevard in Taunton
. Although an exact on-air date was unknown, the station begun preparations to have high definition newscasts. As of Wednesday, September 14, 2011, WGGB officially became the first station in the Springfield/Holyoke market to broadcast local news in HD. Although the shows on Fox 6 were included, they can be seen in the updated resolution only on Comcast
digital channel 861 and Charter
digital channel 786. This is because WGGB-DT2, which serves as Fox 6's over-the-air signal, only transmits in 4:3 standard definition with Fox programming being letterbox
ed. All of their newscasts are streamed live online.
StormTrack HD Meteorologists
Reporters
Contributors
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for the Pioneer Valley
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...
of Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts is a loosely defined geographical region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts which contains the Berkshires, the Pioneer Valley, and some or all of the Swift River Valley. The region is always considered to include Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, and the...
licensed to Springfield
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter on Mount Tom
Mount Tom (Massachusetts)
Mount Tom, , is a steep, rugged traprock mountain peak on the west bank of the Connecticut River 4.5 miles northwest of downtown Holyoke, Massachusetts. The mountain is the southernmost and highest peak of the Mount Tom Range and the highest traprock peak of the long Metacomet Ridge...
in Holyoke
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range of mountains. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 39,880...
. The station can also be seen on Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
and Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
channel 4. There is a high definition feed offered on Charter digital channel 784 and Comcast digital channel 840. Locally-owned by Gormally Broadcasting, it has studios on Liberty Street in Springfield. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WGGB includes The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...
, The Doctors
The Doctors (2008 TV series)
The Doctors is an American syndicated talk show airing daily in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Sweden and Finland. It debuted on September 8, 2008. The hour-long daytime program is produced by Phil McGraw and his son Jay McGraw and is distributed domestically and globally by CBS Television...
, and Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
among others.
Digital programming
On WGGB-DT2WGGB-DT2
WGGB-DT2 is the primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley. The station is a second digital subchannel of ABC affiliate WGGB-TV owned by Gormally Broadcasting. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF...
, Comcast channel 6, and Charter channel 10 is the area's primary Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
and secondary MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate. Although it broadcasts over-the-air in standard definition, there is a high definition feed of WGGB-DT2 seen on Charter digital channel 786 and Comcast digital channel 861. Syndicated programming on this station includes How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, and America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
along with others.
| Channel | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40.1 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
main WGGB programming/ABC (HD) |
| 40.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | WGGB-DT2 "Fox 6" (SD) |
History
It was the second television station in the marketMedia market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
when it commenced broadcasting as WHYN-TV on April 9, 1953. The station's launch was only a month behind rival NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WWLP
WWLP
WWLP is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts that is licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Provin Mountain in the Feeding Hills section of Agawam. The station can also be seen...
. It was co-owned with WHYN radio (AM 560 and FM 93.1
WHYN-FM
WHYN-FM is a hot adult contemporary radio station broadcasting from Springfield, Massachusetts. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications. WHYN-FM broadcasts from Mount Tom in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and can be heard as far south as south central Connecticut...
) and was a primary CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
station with secondary DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
relation. During the late-1950s, it was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
. The station became an ABC affiliate in 1958 after DuMont folded in 1956 and WTIC-TV (now WFSB
WFSB
'WFSB, channel 3, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, owned by the Meredith Corporation. WFSB's studios and offices are located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and its broadcast transmitter is based on Talcott Mountain in Avon, Connecticut. Syndicated...
) in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, previously an Independent, moved to CBS and became the network's affiliate of record in Springfield.
Originally airing an analog signal on UHF channel 55, WHYN moved to channel 40 in 1959. Guy Gannett Broadcasting bought the station in 1979 and changed the calls to WGGB-TV effective at the start of the following year. In 1994, its cameras rolled as Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
head basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach John Chaney confronted University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts
This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
John Calipari
John Calipari
John Calipari is an American basketball coach. Since April 2009, he has been the men's head coach at the University of Kentucky....
at a press conference. At one point, Chaney threatened Calipari with death
Death threat
A death threat is a threat of death, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or groups of people. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, thus a death threat is a form of coercion...
. The footage (watermarked with the station's logo and call letters) was picked up by ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and has since been shown thousands of times. In 2006, Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports Net
The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...
's The Best Damn Sports Show Period
The Best Damn Sports Show Period
The Best Damn Sports Show Period is an American sports television show on Fox Sports Net and Comcast SportsNet. The show regularly featured irreverent and opinionated interviews with top athletes, coaches, celebrities, and entertainers. It also aired Top 50 countdown shows and other sports...
ranked the incident the fifth-biggest outburst in sports history.
The Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
purchased most of Guy Gannett's television stations, including WGGB, in 1998. The station has wanted to move back to CBS on several occasions but was blocked each time by WFSB. CBS did not return over-the-air on a Springfield-based station until 2003 when WFSB started low-powered semi-satellite WSHM-LP (now WSHM-LD). On October 15, 2004, WGGB upgraded its over-the-air digital signal to offer ABC programming in high definition. On May 5, 2007, the station redesigned its website and added local news video.
In late-July 2007, Sinclair announced the sale of WGGB to Gormally Broadcasting, LLC for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
21.2 million. The sale closed on November 2 resulting in this station becoming the only one in the market to be locally owned-and-operated
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
. On December 1, 2008, it shut down its analog signal and became digital-exclusive. This appears to have occurred as early as November 29 due to transmitter failure. On June 12, 2009, the digital signal relocated to the previous analog channel location. Channel 55's spectrum was reassigned for use by Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
's MediaFLO
MediaFLO
MediaFLO is a technology developed by Qualcomm for transmitting audio, video and data to portable devices such as mobile phones and personal televisions, used for mobile television...
system. In addition to WGGB, Charter systems offer fellow ABC affiliate WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts. WCVB is also one of six Boston television stations seen in Canada by...
from Boston on channel 23. Comcast does not offer such access.
WGGB-DT2
The station's second digital subchannel first became active under Sinclair ownership. The broadcast group signed a deal which added The TubeThe Tube (TV channel)
The Tube Music Network was a music video network carried on free-to-air satellite television, select digital television subchannels and digital cable systems. The network's president and founder was Les Garland, a veteran of MTV and VH1. The Tube was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Tube Media Corp...
(a 24-hour digital music channel) to many of the company's stations including WGGB. As a result of lacking any advertising and incoming revenue source, The Tube shut down operations at the end of 2006. Meanwhile, the area did not have a Fox affiliate of its own was the largest market to be in that situation. WTIC-TV
WTIC-TV
WTIC-TV, channel 61, is a television station in Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the Tribune Company, WTIC-TV is a charter affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company...
in Hartford (no relation to the earlier Independent outlet with the same calls) served as the default affiliate on cable. At one point, new Class A station WFXQ-CA
WFXQ-CA
WFXQ-CD is a Class A television station for the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts that is licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 28 from a transmitter at the top of the old Mount Tom Ski Area in Holyoke...
had been rumored as attempting to affiliate with the network. That station is owned by LIN TV Corporation as part of a duopoly with WWLP.
On March 31, 2008, WGGB announced it would be launching the area's first locally-based Fox affiliate on its second digital subchannel. Almost immediately, WTIC had its cable channel location on Comcast systems taken by WGGB-DT2, and as a result, was moved to the digital tier on channel 292. Charter eventually followed suit as well placing WTIC on digital channel 261. When WGGB-DT2 signed-on for the second time, it also added MyNetworkTV as a secondary relation. Currently, programming from the Fox sister network is seen on weeknights from 11:30 until 1:30 the next morning. There is no local branding and/or logo indicating the secondary MyNetworkTV affiliation status.
News operation
WWLP has traditionally been the most watched station in the Pioneer Valley according to Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. However, there have been brief times when WGGB was on top and extended periods in which the two were basically neck-and-neck with WWLP having a slight edge. Originally, its newscasts were known as NewsWatch 40. The station cut back financially under Sinclair ownership, and during that period, rumors of cancelling ABC 40 News or converting to the now-defunct, controversial News Central
News Central
News Central was a primetime newscast on Sinclair television stations in the United States, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios...
format sometimes spread.
News Central was Sincliar's centralized operation based at its headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland
Hunt Valley, Maryland
Hunt Valley is an affluent unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It lies just north of the city of Baltimore, along Highway 145 off Interstate 83. Loch Raven Reservoir...
that added national news headlines, weather forecasts, ans sports highlights to most company-owned stations with local news operations. WGGB was among the few Sinclair outlets that did not adopt the format. The station did air Sinclair's "The Point", a one-minute conservative political commentary, also controversial and a requirement of all company stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006.
In October 2005, WSHM entered in to the local newscast competition after establishing a news department with weeknight broadcasts at 6 and 11. Initially, that station did not compete on the same level as WGGB and WWLP. However, its ratings grew substantially across the board during the May 2009 sweeps period to within decimal points of WGGB in several key demographics. In Fall 2006, WGGB rehired Ed Carroll to be Chief Meteorologist who had previously been at the station from 1989 until 1993 before moving to WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
in Boston. Until April 2007, it did not carry World News Now
World News Now
World News Now is an American overnight news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company's television network. Its tone is often lighthearted, irreverent and humorous...
from ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
in the early weekday morning hours choosing instead to air programming from the Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
(HSN).
After becoming locally owned-and-operated, WGGB's news department underwent significant changes. Several prominent on-air personnel resigned or were laid-off. The station debuted a brand new set, graphics theme, and music package on April 24, 2008. In order to increase its presence in Springfield, WSHM launched the area's first prime time broadcast on August 18. The program aired in a commercial-free, face-paced format every night at 10 for twenty minutes on its cable-only 24-hour
24-hour news cycle
The 24-hour news cycle arrived with the advent of television channels dedicated to news, and brought about a much faster pace of news production with increased demand for stories that can be presented as news, as opposed to the day-by-day pace of the news cycle of printed daily newspapers...
local weather channel and website. It was eventually dropped for an unknown reason. On September 8, WGGB-DT2
WGGB-DT2
WGGB-DT2 is the primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley. The station is a second digital subchannel of ABC affiliate WGGB-TV owned by Gormally Broadcasting. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF...
followed suit with the addition of Fox 6 News at 10 featuring a separate graphics package and music theme. Eventually, this thirty minute production was expanded to weekends.
On April 6, 2009, WGGB's weekday morning show became a full two-hour broadcast like most other ABC affiliates. WGGB-DT2 simulcasts this program then replays it at 7 in the morning. The main station then added a half-hour to the newscast becoming Pioneer Valley's first station offering a weekday morning broadcast beginning at 4:30. WGGB-DT2 does not simulcast the first half-hour. It shares resources with WCVB, NECN, and WFXT
WFXT
WFXT is a television station owned and operated by the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Boston, Massachusetts. The station's studio and office facility is in Dedham, Massachusetts, and its transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts...
for news from Eastern Massachusetts. In return, WGGB does the same for western areas of the state. It does not operate a weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
of its own but uses live NOAA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
radar data originating from the Local Forecast Office on Miles Standish Boulevard in Taunton
Taunton, Massachusetts
Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County and the hub of the Greater Taunton Area. The city is located south of Boston, east of Providence, north of Fall River and west of Plymouth. The City of Taunton is situated on the Taunton River...
. Although an exact on-air date was unknown, the station begun preparations to have high definition newscasts. As of Wednesday, September 14, 2011, WGGB officially became the first station in the Springfield/Holyoke market to broadcast local news in HD. Although the shows on Fox 6 were included, they can be seen in the updated resolution only on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
digital channel 861 and Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
digital channel 786. This is because WGGB-DT2, which serves as Fox 6's over-the-air signal, only transmits in 4:3 standard definition with Fox programming being letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...
ed. All of their newscasts are streamed live online.
Newscast titles
- Dateline News/Nitecap Edition
- NewsWatchNewsWatchNewswatch is a brand for local newscasts.-Stations That Use or Have Used the Newswatch Name:-See also:*Action News*Eyewitness News*NewsCenter...
40 (1980s-1990) - News 40 (1990-2006)
- ABC 40 News (2006-present)
Station slogans
- "We`re With You on Channel 40" (1984-1985; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- "If It`s 40, It Must Be ABC" (1992-1993; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- "Your Home for Live, Local News" (1994-2001)
- "Coverage You Can Count On" (2001-2008)
- "People You Know, News You Can Trust" (2008-present)
News team
Anchors- Dave Madsen - Managing EditorManaging editorA managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...
seen weeknights at 5:30, 6, 10, and 11 (also "Making A Difference" segment producer) - Nathan O'Leary - Weekday Mornings
- Julia Dunn - weekday mornings and noon (also medical reporter)
- Shannon Hegy - weeknights at 5, 6, 10, and 11
- Tricia Taskey - weekends and reporter (also "Crime Files" segment producer)
- Maggie Pereiras - simply living host and Account Executive
- John DiPietro - simply living host
- Mike Leslie - Tuesday through Sunday night sports at 10 and 11 (also sports reporter)
- Friday Football Fever and Above the Rim host
StormTrack HD Meteorologists
- Ed Carroll - Chief seen weeknights at 5, 6, and 11 (also "Out and About" segment producer)
- Mike Masco (NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and noon - Dan Brown - weeknights at 5:30 and 10 (also news reporter and "Student of Character" segment producer)
- heard on WAREWAREWARE is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, USA, the station serves the Springfield market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting.-Trivia:...
-AM 1250
- heard on WARE
- Rick Sluben - weekends
Reporters
- Scott Coen - "My Wide World" segment producer also Friday Football Fever and Above the Rim host
- Mike LaCrosse - weekends and producer (also "Bully Busters" segment producer)
- Ray Hershel - Chief Political and fill-in news anchor
- Gordon Shear - weekday morning traffic
- Bob Hastings - Chief Photographer
- Brendon Monahan
- Jenna Hagist
- Jeff Valin
Contributors
- Renee Hastings - Hastings Healthy Living
- Carrie Taylor - Living Well Eating Smart
- Stacy JohnsonStacy JohnsonStacy Johnson is an author and creator and host of Money Talks, a nationally syndicated consumer/personal finance news series.-Early life and education:...
- Money Talks NewsMoney Talks NewsMoney Talks News is a nationally syndicated consumer/personal finance news series offering tips and advice on saving money and avoiding rip offs in the United States market. It is hosted by Stacy Johnson. News segments are approximately 1.5 minutes in length and air as part of local news programs... - Brian LeesBrian LeesBrian Patrick Lees is a Massachusetts politician, currently serving as the Clerk of Courts for Hampden County...
- political analyst
External links
- WGGB-TV "ABC 40" (can be entered into web-enabled wireless devices for mobile access)